Skills development is a critical
aspect of any nation’s economic as well social growth and development, especially
in a country like India where the demographic transition calls for higher employment
opportunities for millions of employable youths entering the market each year. In
this blog we explore ways in which organizations can tackle the challenges of
reskilling and upskilling their workforce in the face of a looming economic
slowdown, technological disruptions and the future of work.

With
half of India’s population (1.3 billion) below the age of 25 and the average
age of the population set to reach 29 by 2020 (as opposed to 47 years in Japan,
40 years in United States and 46 years in Europe), there is a greater chance of
India’s demographic dividend providing disappointing results than boosting
economic growth, as the nation continues to struggle with unemployment, lack of
employment opportunities, skills gaps and technology adoption.

India’s Widening Skills Gap

As
the fastest growing economy in the world, India stands to benefit largely from
its employable population. However, with 104.62 million-strong workforce set to enter
the labor market by 2022, with only 1% of the population making up 22% of
national income, India’s lower skills intensity presents a mammoth
challenge, whereas Indian organizations need to focus on the development of its
workforce with relevant knowledge and skills to effectively complement the
country’s growth. However, to achieve this result, India needs its diverse
industries to embrace as well as propagate skills training programs for their
existing and future employees with meaningful certifications with effective and
sustainable long-term skills development strategies.

Although it’s easier said than
done, Indian organizations have long been wary of the double edged sword that
is India’s dual challenge of a lack of highly skilled labor on one hand and the
un-employability of large sets of educated population with no relevant job
skills. This is apparent in the fact that there are already severe gaps in industry
demands and the skill level of the workforce. There are many reasons
contributing to this factor, including insufficient training facilities/
opportunities, mismatch between skills and education, limited industry inputs
among others.

Clearly, India’s skill
development ecosystem is leaning more towards formal education and rarely
accommodates vocational training. With such kind of detachment amid formal
education and work demands, the skill gap challenges will only escalate,
calling for concerted efforts to ensure sustained skills development and employability.
However, to address the skills gap and transform the skill development
ecosystem to accommodate the industry demands, organizations must define and
adopt efficient, scalable and sustainable employee training programs.

Tackling Skill Development Challenges

Although India has a range of
skilling programs at the government level, including Pradhan Mantri Kaushal
Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) of the Central Government, Industrial Training Institutes
(ITIs), Directorate of General Training (DGT) and Basic Training Centers, training
programs from departments like commerce and industry, agriculture, housing and
poverty alleviation etc., the country has merely trained over 4.5% of its total workforce, whereas a recent report suggests
that only 18% of individuals participating in vocational courses got
employed.

As worrying as these statistics
are, there is a growing danger of Indian organizations failing to exploit the opportunity
of benefiting from the demographic dividend if the nation’s young workforce is
not skilled as per industry standards. The answer to tackling the skill
development challenges is deeply rooted in corporate Learning & Development
(L&D) and training delivery tools and solutions.

With global technology titans like
Amazon, Google and Microsoft marking a larger presence across India, the
country’s corporate sector is being significantly influenced by global L&D
practices. Leading organizations across the country are now leveraging modern eLearning
platforms and innovative learn-tech tools to support a host of objectives,
including employee upskilling and reskilling.

According to Nitin Bawankule,
Industry Director, Google India, “The
online education segment is set to become a multi-billion dollar opportunity in
India. There are many factors driving this growth including the perceived
convenience, increased reach and personalization offered by online channels.”
There is no doubt that India’s potential for learning technology adoption and
growth remains significantly promising, given the sheer amount of Internet (and
mobile) users in the country, coupled with the rising number of employable
individuals looking for the availability of reskilling opportunities.

According to Nasscom, the increasing adoption of big
data and analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI)
is set to drive the cloud market growth in India towards a $ 7.1 billion
industry by 2022. It certainly wouldn’t be too farfetched to include Learning Management Systems (LMS) in this growth trend.

Learning technology solutions and eLearning programs will continue to bring key advantages to India’s corporate sector. A country as economically, geographically and culturally diverse as India will benefit from the wide ranging learn-tech solutions, including Mobile Learning (anytime-anywhere learning, on-the-go learning etc.), multi-lingual support, virtual class rooms, blended learning and social learning to name a few. And, with the availability of online learning libraries (through an LMS), employees and organizations have access to limitless number of learning resources at their beck and call.

It is important to note that few
of these solutions are especially critical for Indian organizations’ L&D
initiatives as they help navigate the regional, cultural and lingual barriers.
Furthermore, one of the most advantageous aspects of modern day learn-tech
tools for Indian businesses is their ability to provide individuals placed in
remote towns and villages the access to world-class learning resources, at affordable prices, thus
creating a sense of equal opportunity.

Considering the significant skills
gap facing the country, Indian organizations need to step up their L&D game
to match the global standards. And, one of the very first steps towards
achieving this aim is to start aggressively integrating learning technology
into India’s growing corporate landscape. This means customizing eLearning
approaches and online learning content delivery mechanisms to meet the evolving
needs of India’s diverse population.

Takeaway

When used responsibly and
intelligently, learning technology can gauge the learners’ requirements,
analyze their learning behaviors as well as provide insights into improving the
learning process. Finally, learning is an unending process and technology is indispensable
to our everyday lives. Thus, learning technology and eLearning certainly have a
key role to play in tackling the skill development challenges in India, not
only in 2019 but also in the foreseeable future.